Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2016
5. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase the numbers of personal assistant hours for persons with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14120/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for her question and wish her well in her new position as Fianna Fáil Party spokesperson on disabilities.
The Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in A Programme for a Partnership Government which is guided by two principles, namely, equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
With regard to assisted living services, the Health Service Executive's priority in the 2016 national service plan is to protect the level of services provided in 2015 and to provide 1.3 million hours of personal assistant services for 2,000 people with a physical and-or sensory disability and 2.6 million hours of home support for 7,300 people with a range of disabilities. The provision of personal assistant services has an annual cost of €30 million, with an annual cost of €52 million for home support services.
Personal assistant hours are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure the service is at all times responsive to clients needs and the hours available are allocated appropriately and in a timely manner. In 2015 the Health Service Executive exceeded the expected activity level for personal assistant hours by approximately 100,000. This reflects the responsive nature of the service provided and takes account of the fluctuation in assessed need over time. The need for increased personal assistant services is acknowledged and the HSE continues to explore various ways of responding effectively to this need from available resources.
I wish to congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, on his appointment. He has been a powerful advocate for people with disabilities during his time in public life. I know that will continue and I look forward to working closely with him.
The Minister has said a lot about plans, budgets and reviews, but with respect, the people who need these hours need them now. We need funding to be put in place now. It is quite disturbing that no extra funding has been put into personal assistant services since 2009. Currently there are people here who require but who have no personal assistant hours and also people who require extra hours. I would like the Minister of State to commit to working to ensure a significant increase in personal assistant hours is provided for in the next budget and HSE service plan and to setting a target for that.
I accept the Deputy's point that we have had some difficult years in regard to public finances following the international banking crisis and that there has been a reduction in resources over the past number of years. This has changed and it is now planned to invest in resources. As part of the programme for partnership Government, I have a new proposal coming on stream in regard to personalised budgets for people with disabilities.
The programme for partnership Government contains a commitment to establish a task force within three months for the implementation of personalised budgets for persons with disabilities. Personalised budgets provide an individual with more control in accessing services, giving the person greater independence, control and choice. The budget for the service is devolved to the person so that he or she can shop beyond traditional service providers to fit their needs. Other important policies in regard to transforming the lives of people with disabilities recommend the move towards a model of person-centred and individually chosen community based supports, underpinned by a more effective method of assessing need, allocating resources and monitoring resource use.
As the Minister well knows, it is almost impossible to overstate how crucial personal assistance is in the lives of people with disabilities. Unfortunately, many of those who receive a service only get four hours per week. This is not good enough as they must squeeze an awful lot into those four hours. I urge the Minister of State to consider a further allocation for the people who receive only four hours assistance.
Clearly, this service needs to be expanded and I believe the Minister of State will look into that. It is deeply disappointing that there will be no additional services provided for in 2016. Also, relative to the outturn in 2015, there are serious concerns that the service may even be reduced this year. A €10 million increase in 2017 could deliver 400,000 plus hours. I call on the Minister of State to make this his priority.
I accept the Deputy's point in regard to the allocation of only four hours per week to a person with a disability. I plan to change that because it is unacceptable. It is important that the rights of people with disabilities are recognised. They are citizens of this State and have a right to a quality service. Our plan is to work with the task force to ensure people with disabilities get the maximum support. For that reason, I am bringing in a group of people to the task force to deal with personalised budgets. The idea is to ensure the adoption of a national, coherent application system to develop budgets before the end of 2017. The adoption of a single national coherent system will provide accountability for spending and will ensure the exploration of brokerage models where people are assisted to connect with and purchase the services that meet their needs.
I am also working on the Estimates for this year's budget and I make a commitment to the Deputy that I will do my best in regard to funding. We must try to catch up following the lack of resources over the past number of years.
